Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor Hetherton be appointed Chair for the hearing.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider an application for a New Premises Licence in respect of Raj’s Store, 57 Harnall Lane West, Coventry.

Note: The applicant and their representative have been invited to attend the

  hearing.

  Persons who have made representations have been invited to attend.

The City Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy is available on the Council’s website. Alternatively, please contact us if you require a hard copy.

The Sub-Committee considered an application for a new Premises Licence in respect of Raj’s Store, 57 Harnall Lane West, Coventry. The application was for the supply of alcohol for consumption off the premises on Monday to Saturday from 07:00hrs to 21:30hrs and on Sunday from 07:00hrs to 20:30hrs.

Representations had been received from West Midlands Police and Public Health. The grounds for the representations were that the granting of a Premises Licence would undermine the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder; protection of public safety and the prevention of public nuisance. The representations made reference to the Salvation Army Harnall Life House which is located opposite the application premises and houses vulnerable people with high dependency issues, including alcohol/drug misuse. The area also currently attracts a high volume of calls to West Midlands Police for anti-social behaviour and crime and disorder.

The Applicant’s Representative made the following representations to the Sub-Committee:

·  That this was a modest application for a convenience store. Everyone goes for a reason but once there, the retailer would want you to spend on other things. The applicant has invested a lot of money into making the premises a respectable place.

·  The opening hours requested is also modest

·  The property has been in the family for over 30 years

·  That the objections centred around Harnall Life House and the effect that granting the licence will have on the vulnerable people if they got hold of alcohol

·  That the Harnall Life House was opened when there was a licenced premises which was trading.

·  Accepted that potentially 80 people can live in the Harnall Life House at any one time with a percentage of those people having alcohol problem but that this small number of people could not be a justification to refuse the application.

·  Anyone booked into the Harnall Life House would probably have a number of sanctions etc. and if so, why those sanctions could not include a prohibition to go into the premises across the road. The applicant would also be willing to work with the Harnall Life House.

·  That the licence review was available to the authority in the event that the applicant breached any condition in the licence.

·  That the applicant would be prepared to have a condition which prohibits the sale of alcohol over a percentage as the alcohol bought by people with alcohol issues tend to be the stronger alcoholic contents.

·  That the evidence provided by the police was not tied to the applicant as he was not operating within that period. Also questioned the evidence provided by the police on the basis that of 15 crimes listed, only two were attributed to incidents that were alcohol related.

·  That the applicant deserves the opportunity to trade and provide for his family and if there were problems, then the review process was available to the Authority.

In response to a question from the Sub-Committee, the Applicant confirmed that the whole business is owned by the family and if he was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider any other items of business which the Chair decides to take as a matter of urgency because of the special circumstances involved.

There were no other items of public business.